This is only half true.
Artemis models in around version 2 and newer are worse - any Artemis model newer than V8, which was most of them through much of version 2’s release - is worse than Proteus in most circumstances. However, Artemis V8 and earlier, meaning you have to use older versions of Topaz, were significantly better in detail enhancement than Proteus can get right up to latest 3.0.5 release of Topaz.
I also have sunk an insane amount of hours into Proteus since its inception, and I can rarely match the output of the older Artemis, and when it gets close, it gets more artificial as it doesn’t enhance fine detail well. I have been trying, and failing, for months and hundreds of tests now to try and get any of the Proteus versions to outmatch the older models of Artemis without success.
The sad state of it is that due to Artemis being broken around version 2, Proteus is the best upscaling option current in the program, so the statement is correct for most people - its just that its become that way because the older Artemis models don’t work anymore and the quality reduction seems to have been accepted to prioritise user manual sliders for adjustments.
I suspect this is largely a side effect of Topaz trying to move away from models that need a lot of adjustments prior to importing the media (what you fed in makes a large change to the output) to a model solution that tries to make it a “one stop shop” for a general user.
I don’t disagree with that end goal, but it did sacrifice quality in the models to achieve it presently. I am just patiently waiting for improvements to the Proteus models to catch up to where Artemis was originally. At that point, then it will be the best model for upscaling.
